


When You Were Young

by The_Whistler



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: 13th anniversary, Nostalgia, Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Whistler/pseuds/The_Whistler
Summary: The robots find something in the attic.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 14





	When You Were Young

**Author's Note:**

> Stand alone short fic about the Walter automatons in honor of the band’s 13th anniversary, since they can’t have a show for it this year. It took me a bit to get it finished. 
> 
> Another stand alone fluff piece, quieter than last time.

“Thanks for helping me carry these down,” Wanda said.

The Spine easily set a stack of four boxes down on the floor. “Not a problem, Wanda. I don’t have much else to do today since the rehearsal stream.”

”I’m sorry you can’t have your anniversary concert like you usually do.”

”It’s perfectly understandable. We don’t want any humans tempted to gather in large groups this year.”

”Yeah.” She sighed. “Y'know, it's so silly... I didn’t get out much before, but now I feel like a caged rat! Cleaning out the attic will be a nice distraction for a while, at least.”

”It will, but in my experience, if you feel cooped up, it’s best to at least take a walk. I know I’m not human, but a regular walk helps me, and seeing all the humans living here has shown me that it helps them too. Why don’t you and Norman take a stroll while I bring down the rest of the boxes?”

”Y’know, that sounds like a great idea. But... there are still quite a few crates and chests up there. I wish you would have Rabbit and Zer0 help out.”

He stared at her blankly. Yeah, that would end well.

”I’ll... think about it.”

She laughed. “Alright, see you in a few. Thanks again!”

The Spine headed back up. She wasn’t the only one who needed a distraction. He didn’t need to get out at the moment... he took plenty of walks and it looked like rain today, which wouldn’t go well with his hat. His electronics were no worry, since they were as shielded as those of a sturdy old sportscar.

But he was restless. The stream had been nice but he missed the buzz of a crowd of excited fans, lining up and chattering in the hall outside the auditorium, the smiling Walter Workers selling posters, buttons and kazoos, Rabbit’s restless pacing while humming harmonies to keep her vocals supple, even Zer0’s inexplicable paddleball habit that he claimed helped him feel ready to perform. He missed the sound of the intro effects, the colored lights... even just setting up the stage. He'd hoped to be back doing concerts by now but it just hadn't been possible.

So when Wanda had hesitantly asked for help bringing boxes and crates down from the dusty attic so that she could sort and clean, The Spine had almost leaped to comply. That sounded like a solid evening’s labor, just what he needed!

He arrived downstairs carrying a hefty wooden crate and nearly dropped it in shock. Rabbit was digging through one of the boxes!

”Hey, Tha Spine! I thought me an’ Zer0 were tha only ones who e-e-ever made a mess this big!”

He set his load down heavily and heard a squeak of alarm. Zer0 had been in his blind spot and he’d landed the crate inches from where he was sitting.

”Sorry,” he muttered. “So what exactly do you two think you’re doing?”

”Lookin’ at tha boxes! Say... I found a baby picture of Petes!”

Curiosity pricked at him but he’d promised to bring down the rest of the boxes, and there were a lot of them. Well, Wanda had suggested he get their help, and by the time they were done, she might be home again to keep them in line. He certainly couldn’t. But he also couldn't leave Rabbit and Zer0 alone with the crates and boxes. 

”Before you start digging,” he said, “Wanda asked me to bring more boxes down from the attic.”

”Okay, we’ll wait for ya,” she said, burrowing back into the box.

”No, I mean, they’re pretty heavy, so I need help.”

”Just take ‘em one at a time.”

”I need _you_ to help,” he said tightly.

”Okay!” Zer0 cried, jumping up from the floor.

Fifty percent success. "Rabbit?" he prompted.

”I’m reading,” she said, looking down at an ABC book.

”I don’t know. Are you sure you can handle such a complicated novel?” The Spine asked dryly.

”Hey, I been able ta r-r-read since before you were a head on a stick, leggy boy!”

“The attic will be emptied a lot faster with help,” he said, sighing.

”Good thing Zer0’s go-go-goin’, then...”

”Alright.” Time for a new approach. “Guess we’ll explore the attic without you.”

 _”Explore?”_ Rabbit drawled, eyes rising slowly from E is for Elephant.

”Oh, yeah! You know how much stuff is in the attic! It’s like a dark, spooky labyrinth in there. No telling what’s in the shadows. Of course, if you’re happier reading baby books it’s all good, we’ll see you in a few minutes...”

And they were off, Rabbit leading the way. It was necessary to tell Zer0 he was invulnerable to pretty much anything in order to get him to go, after that description. Rabbit, on the other hand, almost ran up the stairs to see while The Spine smirked in satisfaction and followed, two steps at a time.

”Lookit this place!” she breathed, when they arrived.

He hadn’t exaggerated. He’d built up the drama, sure, but the attic indeed was very much a dusty museum of old Walter wonders, from odd inventions to dresses on forms, paintings covered in dust and chests that looked like they’d belonged to Captain Morgan.

”Ya think there’s a map to tha treasure of One-Eyed Willy?” Rabbit asked excitedly.

”One-Eyed what?” Zer0 asked, suddenly giggling.

”Never mind,” The Spine murmured. It sounded filthy, but he knew the reference. “Rabbit, if there is, I’d be very much surprised. But there will be no breaking of any framed pictures to find out.”

”Awwww... I want tha rich stuff, Brand! We gotta keep tha Goonies from be-bein’ split up!”

The Spine snickered in spite of himself and walked into the attic.

”I don’t get it,” Zer0 said, following.

Rabbit hurried after. “That’s right, ya missed a lot of movies down in tha basement! We’ll watch it later, b-b-b-big guy! Yehr gonna love it”

Zer0 giggled.

”Alright, Wanda wants all of these brought down to...” The Spine began.

”Brought down? I thought we were gonna explore!”

”Well, we’ll have to explore the attic in order to get all these downstairs, won’t we?”

“Sort of, I guess! But can’t we have an adventure first, then bring ‘em down?”

”Wanda won’t be out walking forever and she wants to get to work sorting when she comes back.”

"Really?"

"Well... yes..."

”You used ta be a lot more fun,” she growled, folding her arms.

He stared at her. Wasn’t this fun?

”When?” he said, a trifle sharply.

”When you were little!”

"Little!" he snorted. He'd never been little, just unfinished. "When was I ever little?"

"Alright, when you were y-y-young! When ya knew how ta have fun with me an' Jon, back in tha old days!"

“When I knew how to have fun?" he growled. "Or do you mean back when I was stupid enough to follow you anywhere and get into trouble because of things _you_ did?”

There was a heavy pause. Maybe he’d been too harsh...

”Yeah!” Rabbit cried, throwing up her hands suddenly. “Back then! That was great!”

He burst out laughing. Rabbit tipped her head at him, glancing briefly at Zer0, who shrugged.

”Yehr crazy,” she sighed. 

“Maybe a little,” The Spine confessed. “Alright, let’s work our way around the boxes for a few minutes. It wouldn’t hurt to take inventory of what’s up here before we continue.”

”Oh, _inventory,”_ Rabbit muttered under her breath as they headed further into the attic. “That just sounds like a b-b-b-big ol’ thrilling pirate adventure!”

”Don’t be petulant. I promised I’d help Wanda and I don’t want to break my promise.”

She sighed. “A-Alright. I guess I get it. Can’t make a giraffe change his spots.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, stopping to scowl at her.

She smiled indulgently. “Chill, big guy. It just means you were always a good boy.”

He smiled slowly back. She was probably just saying that to avoid further argument, but he knew it was true and he was proud of it.

”Wait...” he breathed, his smiled fading. He looked around. “Where’s...”

”Zer0?” Rabbit finished as they looked around.

”Hey, what’s this do?”

That didn’t bode well.

Before they could spot him, there was a shriek. They jumped as one, turning in the direction of the sound... but thankfully it wasn’t human, animal, or even robot. It was the screech of two things being pulled apart that had rested together for decades untold. A soft hiss sounded briefly and The Spine realized that part of the attic ceiling was descending in a shower of dust on the other side of a large pile of hat boxes. Below it stood Zer0, holding, and pulling, on a rope handle.

”Guys! I found something!” Zer0 cried.

He certainly had. A mysterious opening, streaming soft light, had appeared above the staircase Zer0 had pulled open.

”So I didn’t imagine it...” Rabbit murmured.

”What?”

”There’s another attic above this one! It’s been so long since I been up here I thought maybe I dreamed it.”

”It must have been a very long time if I didn’t even know about it...” The Spine breathed, walking around the obstacles to take a look. “I thought that rope was just there to hang a lantern or something, back in the day.”

”Look at this, Spine!” Zer0 breathed. “It’s so mysterious up there! But... it’s kinda scary...”

The Spine put a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to go up, Zer0. So you’ve seen this before, Rabbit?”

”Yeah, Pappy brought me up ta help tidy up an’ that door was open but he didn’t let me go up because I wasn’t that good at climbing. See how tiny tha staircase is?”

”Well, we’re a lot more nimble now,” he said, standing with one hand on the side of the staircase, looking up into the darkness.

”We go-goin’ up?” she asked with a small smile.

”We have to at least take a look. Besides, Wanda wants _everything_ brought down. Right?”

Rabbit grinned like a maniac. “Right!” 

“Alright, I guess I’ll go first...” he offered, waiting.

Silence.

”Don’t you think?” The Spine said slowly.

”Yeah, yeah I do," Rabbit replied. "Go ahead.”

”I’ll just check out these hat boxes,” Zer0 said casually.

He’d expected more of an objection. He might have even hoped for one. But, at least they weren’t fighting him on it... he really was the best one to go.

He tested the first step. It seemed solid enough. The wood was thick, reinforced with bands of metal and mercifully free of rust. He carefully scaled the steps, easing his head and shoulders through the narrow opening, and sat carefully at one side of the floor above, gazing around in astonishment.

”What’s up there, Spine? A secret lab? A vampire’s coffin? The skeleton of Pappy’s first wife who went crazy an’ had ta be lo-locked up in tha attic?”

”No...” he murmured, too baffled to comment on her peculiar theories. “It’s just a little room, since it’s in the peak of the roof. And there’s just a few more boxes here... and a little table and a chair, covered in dust... no, wait...”

He blew across the table and the dust flew into clouds around the room while little paper triangles spilled onto the floor. He closed his mouth until it settled a bit; dust in the boiler was a nuisance at best.

"What's there, Spine?"

”There’s stuff still sitting on the desk like someone just left and expected to come back. A teacup? Scissors, paste... probably dried up. Pens and paper and...” He leaned in to peer more closely at it. “There’s those little corners you used to used in photo albums to hold the photos. And there’s some fancy paper here, well... it _was_ fancy. It’s a bit moth-eaten now. And some faded ribbons...”

”We got tha ghost of a scrapbooker?” Rabbit asked dryly. Zer0 snickered.

”I don’t know about ghosts, but someone was definitely scrapbooking at some point.”

”Probably Ma. Dunno who else it could be. All her old photo albums had tha little corners ta hold tha photos.”

This piqued his interest. If Iris had made scrapbooks, he hadn’t heard of them. Sure, there were the photo albums Rabbit had mentioned, but none of them were particularly complex... just photos and the occasional keepsake like a lock of hair from each of the twins. Besides, she’d had a desk downstairs that she had sat at in order to fill those albums.

”Can ya m-m-move further in so I can come up an’ see?” Rabbit asked.

”I think so...” He started to creep forward and heard the boards creak and pop. “No... I take it back. It’s tight and dusty and I don’t think the floor here was ever built to hold more than a few boxes or humans. Certainly not more than one of us at a time. You’re a bit lighter than I am so I’ll come down and you can come check out the rest.”

He heard Rabbit squeak with glee as he made his way back down. “I’m a real explorer!” she crowed.

”So am I!” Zer0 said. He’d found a pith helmet and was wearing it proudly. It was a bit too small.

”Sayyy, nice chapeau, mon ami!” Rabbit said happily as she started up the stairs.

She clambered into the room. They could hear her shuffling about on hands and knees for a moment.

”She just left her teacup here?” Rabbit called. “There’s still tea leaves in it!”

”I hope they reveal something auspicious,” Zer0 commented, trying on a turban.

”I’m guessing she meant to come back and get it?” The Spine said, puzzled. The whole thing was getting a little eerie.

”There’s an old photo on tha desk but it’s faded so bad I can’t make it out,” she continued. “Lemme check out tha boxes.”

He waited as patiently as he could while Zer0 contentedly modeled hats, apparently possessing no interest in visiting the “scary” second attic. There were soft shuffling sounds but no comments from Rabbit. Finally The Spine couldn’t take it anymore and clambered up just far enough to stand on the stairs while looking into the room.

”Oh, hey,” Rabbit breathed, distracted by the box she was investigating.

”What’s in it?” he asked eagerly.

”Photos!” she cried, holding up a handful. “Real old ones, Spine!”

”Really? What a find! How old are they?”

“As old as us, some of them! Look!”

She gave him a handful. Col. Walter posing with Delilah Morreo in front of Delilah the giraffe. GG wearing a bonnet and not looking particularly pleased about it. Rabbit in her most primitive chassis, wearing a lacy apron while helping to make cookies.

”Pappy must have had his own camera...” he murmured. “People didn’t just snap off photos of any old thing back then...”

”I know, I’m tha oldest, remember? And yeah, I remember Pappy was real excited ta have one he could just use around that place. He got pretty good.”

”But the one with Delilah...”

”An’ Delilah.”

”Right... that one looks professional. But these others are a bit blurry, like they were taken around the house.”

“Aren’t they amazing?”

”They really are. What’s in the other boxes?”

”Lemme check.” She pried the lid off of one. “Paper, lil metal hooks, pliers, bunch of office supplies.”

”I guess that’s to be expected. The last one?”

Rabbit tugged at the lid. “It’s stuck...”

”Oh, well, bring it downstairs and we can figure out the safest way to...”

_Riiip!_

”Rabbit!” he barked, nearly losing his balance. “What did you do?”

“It’s just an old cardboard box!” she said dismissively. She reached in and pulled out a book.

”What is it?”

”Spine...” she whispered. She opened it carefully, a childlike smile gracing her lips. “Spine... It’s a baby book!”

”Like the one downstairs?” he asked, disappointed.

”No! The kind ya make about a real baby! But it’s of Tha Jon!”

”She was up here making The Jon a baby book?”

Rabbit peered into the box. “Not just Tha Jon, buddy,” she breathed. She started pulling out books. ”Here’s mine,” she squeaked, dropping the rest back into the box. 

The Spine looked longingly at it and pleaded, “Rabbit, could you possibly...”

”Huh? Oh! Sorry!”

She shoved the box toward him and began to look through her book. He tugged it closer, tipping it sideways, and began to look at the contents. The Jon... it had a rainbow made of yarn on the cover. Hatchworth’s had a little core on it made from a circle of foil and now cracked cellophane... unless she’d made it that way on purpose. Seemed a bit tasteless, so he assumed it had coincidentally cracked over time. There was his own, decorated with bold black stripes over a grey background. He set it aside with trembling hands and checked the rest of the books. They were all blank, but their presence suggested she’d had plans to make more.

At last he picked up his book and slowly opened it.

”When you were young,” he read softly. “You were our second child, and we are very proud of you.”

He gulped. He wanted to read it alone, because he could already tell it was going to make him cry. Rabbit was already sitting, unusually still and silent, oily tears rolling into her vents. He almost closed the book... but he just couldn’t. He needed to see it.

The next page showed a list.

“ _All my firsts._

First word: Rabbit.”

He smiled.

“First sat unassisted: August 25, 1896. (on a lab table)  
First step: November 3, 1896.   
First friend: Rabbit.  
First drank unassisted: October 13, 1896. (You spilled the water all down your stomach!)  
First smile: August 30, 1896. (Because your Pappy said you did a good job learning to walk).  
First laugh: December 12, 1896. (Rabbit was telling you the Nativity story and did all the characters, even the donkey! The donkey made you laugh!)"

”Rabbit told me the Nativity story?” he murmured, surprised. 

“I did what?” Rabbit murmured thickly, looking up from her book.

”What’s yours say?” he asked.

”It has all tha stuff I did when I was a new bot!” she sobbed. “An’ photos an’ e-e-everything! It’s adorable!”

He laughed and wiped his eyes. “Mine, too. And apparently you were telling Christian stories.”

”Oh, ya know Iris liked that traditional stuff. Same with tha rest of tha staff.”

”No, it’s a nice story. Goes with Christmas.”

”Yeah. So how many of these are there?”

”Looks like four. Why?”

“‘Cause I don’t think there’s one for... y’know...” She angled her head toward the opening.

”Zer0," he whispered. "Because she didn’t know he was still alive. Yeah, this could get awkward. We probably shouldn’t mention it...”

”Yeah, let’s box it all up an’ bring it down later.”

”I’m not deaf, y’know,” Zer0 called.

The Spine and Rabbit each made a face and looked at each other. They clambered down, one by one, to see Zer0 wearing a lacy bonnet.

”Hey, nice hat, buddy...” Rabbit said weakly.

”It’s okay. I don’t need a baby book,” Zer0 said, smiling. “I was never a baby!”

”Well, I mean, neither were we...” said The Spine.

”Yeah, but Miss Iris also never really felt like my mother so I don’t really care if she made me a book.”

”Honest?” Rabbit murmured.

Zer0 reached into another hat box and found a familiar top hat. “Honest. Hey, isn’t this yours, Rabbit?”

”Ooo! I remember that one!” she cried, plopping it on her head. “It only fit with a sash but now it fits ‘cause of my hair!”

“I like it!” Zer0 cried.

The Spine smiled. “You should use it in a show.”

Zer0’s smile faded. “When are we gonna get to do a show again, Spine?” he asked pitifully. “I miss the fans.”

”Me, too,” Rabbit whimpered.

The Spine gulped and said gruffly, “We’ll be doing shows before ya know it, gang. This won’t last forever!”

”Ya promise, mistah?” Rabbit said in a childlike voice.

He smiled sadly, steadying his voice to say, “I know it seems like it won’t, but remember the diphtheria? And polio? They have a vaccine and they can do it again if they did it before.”

To his dismay, his voice cracked ever so slightly on the last word. Rabbit's chin quivered. The Spine gulped.

"I need a hug!" Rabbit whimpered.

"Me, too!" sobbed Zer0.

"Of course," The Spine sighed shakily.

He hugged her and Zer0 hugged them both. It was... nice. He felt tears leaking from his eyes and heaved a shuddering sigh.

"Hey! There's nothing else downstairs. Did you get distracted looking at all the old stuff?" Wanda called from the doorway.

"Actually, yes..." The Spine called back thickly, turning from the hug reluctantly. "Guess, uh... we better get to work."

"Okay!" Zer0 said cheerfully and began to stuff hats back into boxes.

"Spine?" Rabbit said as Wanda made her way through the piles of memorabilia toward them.

"Hm?"

"Ya could've just said you needed a hug," Zer0 said over his shoulder.

"What? I didn't... you..."

Rabbit grinned wickedly. "Ya always need one an' ya only do it if we ask first. And ya never could deal with tha quiverin' ch-ch-chin."

He gaped. She was right... he always fell for it. And she was absolutely right. He'd needed that hug.

"I always want a hug," Zer0 confessed. "So it was easy for me."

"I meant it, too," she said, patting each of them on the head. "Hey, let's show Wanda tha baby books! An' we need ta call tha others so they can come get theirs!"

"Alright," he said with a chuckle.


End file.
